Entry for the Myths & Legends OWL at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Task: Create your own Folklore Legend.

Prompts:

Will-o-the-Wisp: (creature/item) Will-o-the-Wisp (Irrlicht)

The Babes in the Wood: (creature) Ghost of a child

Lady Lovibond: (object) Boat/Ship

Biddenden Maids: (persons) Twins

Turpin's Cave: (location) Cave

Entry for the Greek Mythology Competition

Coeus: Write about a member of the Black family

Entry for the September Event: Back to School

(word) Princess

(object) Striped Scarf

Entry for the Gringotts Prompt Bank

Thanks a lot to Dina, who betaed this for me! :)

(3600 Words)

Local Stories

Strong winds chased dark clouds over the sky above the small village, and the gusts whipping through the narrow alleys proved that the autumn was slowly gaining force. Colourful leaves were drifting over the cobblestones that were still wet from the rain the clouds had brought, and where the street wasn't winding down the hill too steeply, puddles had formed.

Mortising against the strong wind, a woman was making her way through the darkening, empty street. Her brown hair was dripping wet, proof that she had been unsheltered during the earlier rainshower. A striped scarf was wrapped around her neck, providing a little bit of protection from the cool air, and she was carrying a big rucksack on her back. The heavy leather boots she wore were muddy and a little bit worn, as if she'd been walking for quite some time.

She followed the street up the hill and then stopped in front of one of the stone houses that were standing close to each other, her dark eyes wandering over the shield that hung over the entrance and creaked in the wind. 'The Stray Dog Pub' was painted on it with crooked letters, and the loud thunder above her head caused the woman to walk towards the door and push it open.

Warmth, laughter and the heavenly smell of food welcomed her, and she hurried to close the door behind her, afraid that the wind from the outside could destroy the homely atmosphere. It seemed like all inhabitants of the small village were in the pub; it was pretty packed for the standards of such an excluded place. The walls and the bar were panelled with dark wood, and the walls were covered with vintage advertisement shields and a few old portraits; in the corner, flames were crackling in the fireplace. People were sitting around in small groups, drinking and laughing, only a few paying attention to the young woman who'd just entered.

One stool at the bar was unoccupied, and after putting her backpack down, she sat down, immediately being greeted by the bartender. He was tall, about her age, with shoulder-length black hair and a cheeky grin that made his grey eyes sparkle.

"Oh, look at this, the princess of my dreams has finally arrived! What can I do for you, mysterious lady?" he winked while polishing a glass. She smiled back at him, glad to see that his flirty expression was honest; it was the first time in days she'd been treated like a normal human being and not like a landloper. Older people, especially, didn't understand why a young woman would want to walk through the country without a place to stay.

"I would like a pint of Kilkenny and the menu, dreamboy. And you may call me Emmeline," she replied, running a hand through her still wet hair after taking her thick jacket and scarf off and unceremoniously placing them on the floor next to her bar stool .

The young bartender nodded and turned around, taking a leatherbound menu from the board behind him with the words: "Your wish is my command, Emmeline. I'm Sirius, by the way."

"Hello, Sirius."

With a smirk, Emmeline took the menu from him and let her gaze linger on his wide smile a moment longer than necessary before turning her attention to the menu. She was starving, having last eaten in the early morning; the bartender in the pub she'd wanted to eat lunch at had thrown her out, thinking that she wanted to beg for food.

After ordering, she leaned back, finally able to relax; the friendly atmosphere made her forget the unfriendly people she'd met on her journey so far. A newspaper was lying at the other end of the bar, and upon noticing that she was throwing a longing look at it, Sirius quickly moved to hand it to her.

"Hey, you're driving a pretty hard bargain, aren't you?" she teased him, biting her lower lip as he blew her a kiss, his hand pressed over her heart. Emmeline normally wasn't the person to bond with strangers this fast, but with him, it seemed easy. He was laid back, flirty... and damned handsome, she couldn't deny that.

While she was reading the newspaper, sipping her beer from time to time, he disappeared to serve some other customers.

By the time he served her the ham and bacon sandwich with french fries she'd ordered, a small band had climbed the stage on the far side of the room, preparing their instruments for a session. The food was delicious, and Emmeline had to control herself so she wouldn't gobble it down greedily. People were clapping as the violinist started to play a funny tune, the other men soon joining in. Some locals were starting to dance in the free space in front of the stage, others were clapping along, and Emmeline, too, felt the carefree and joy run through her.

When she finished her sandwich, the band had already played a few songs and was taking a short break to have a few sips from their beers. Then, the violinist came forward to stand on the edge of the stage.

"Welcome friends, the boys and I are really happy that so many of you have come here to listen to us tonight... we hope we won't disappoint you! Now that we've played some pieces for you to dance to, it's time for a calmer one, and I think all of you know it."

A knowing murmur went through the pub, confusing Emmeline a little bit. Obviously, everyone knew what the man was talking about.

"There are many stories of spirits that roam through the forests and swamps around the village, but I think none is so well known like the tale about the twin brothers!"

Even though Emmeline didn't believe in folklore, she was curious – after all, she wasn't the person to say no to a good tale, and she wanted to find out how good this particular story was. During her time on the road she'd learned that most local tales had a true core, however abstract it may be, and she was interested to find out if it was the same in this small village.

The violinist was once again the one to start playing first, starting with a rather happy tune that made his bow jump over the strings like a kite in the breeze. And then, the men started to sing together, drawing Emmeline into a story...

OoO

"A long, long time ago, when heroic kings were still ruling the world, two brothers were living in the house on the top of the hill. They were twins; identical from head to toe, and not even their mother could tell them apart.

For they were happy and adventurous children, their favourite place to play at was the old forest below the village. Between the old trees, they pretended to be knights who were on their way to save a fair princess, and they would spend hours in the forest, only returning home at dawn when their mother's calls could be heard throughout the whole village. Their mother was easily worried about them, for she knew that the forest could be a dangerous place for children, but her boys couldn't be scared by the stories about robbers and witches.

Whenever their poor mother would tell them about the horrors that were hidden between the trees, in the depths of the forest, they would take her hand and smile: 'Beloved mother, worry not – we know the forest and it knows us, and harm us it will not.'

Those words were not enough to soothe their mother's heavy heart, but she let them roam freely, as she didn't want to take away their best trait from them: freedom. It was in their souls, and it couldn't be tamed.

And so the twins wandered down to the forest once more on the next morning, with the promise of caution on their lips. They played the whole day, discovering places of the forest they hadn't seen yet, for nature is an ever changing force that, like them, couldn't be tamed by human hands.

Their games carried them deeper into the forest than they'd ever been before, and, captivated by the wonders they saw, they forgot about time. The evening already dawned and between the trees, a dim light reduced the sight when they reached a swamp so wide that they could barely see what was on the other side. It was lying by the foot of one of the highest hills of the area, and one of the brothers spotted a cave entry on the other side in the last rays of daylight that broke through the crowns of the trees.

However, he didn't have the time to ponder about how to get to the cave to allay his thirst for discoveries – suddenly, his brother's scream broke the peaceful silence in the forest.

His eyes were wide in horror has he turned around and saw his poor brother in the water, trying to free his foot in desperate hecticness. The murky water was sloshing around his body as he struggled and only sank in deeper, his screams growing louder and louder with every movement.

Knowing that it would be of no use if he got stuck in the mud below the surface as well, he tried to reach his brother without his feet leaving the safe ground. Tears of fear and panic were running down his cheeks as he did everything he could to save his other half, but it was in vain.

He had to watch his brother disappeared under the surface, his mouth opened in a silent scream as a few last air bubbles moved the water; then, it was as smooth as the surface of a mirror.

For a short moment, he stood there, staring at the spot where his beloved brother had vanished, frozen into place and not willing to believe what had happened.

Like a sleepwalker, he made his way back to the village, not registering how he sometimes stumbled into a tree or fell to his knees in the mud; the shock was too deep.

In the village, their mother was waiting in fear; the sky was already dark above the village and the moon's ghostly light fell upon her worried face as she sat in front of their house. No words could describe her reaction as she spotted her son and realised that he was alone, but it was said that the whole village awoke from her screams of grief.

Seven days and seven nights did the brother not leave his room, his joy and love of adventures ripped from his soul in just one fateful night. Several men from the village tried to find the body, but it remained lost, which made it only harder for the family to cope with his loss. The coffin was buried empty, and on the eighth day, the brother left the house and disappeared forever, breaking his mother's heart again.

Many summers went by, and no one ever saw him again, but the tragic story wasn't forgotten. In the village, everyone remembered the brothers, and their mother, who'd soon died from sorrow after her other son's disappearance.

Life went on, the forest's secret paths were discovered, and the swamp was connected to a river many tradesmen used for their business.

But soon, the men that were steering the boats spread a story in the pubs along their route; a story about disembodied cries at the deepest point of the forest. Many warned their fellow boatmen to cross the forest at twilight, fearing that evil forces were roaming it and that magical creatures were haunting the swamp.

One young boatsman didn't believe in those stories, however – he didn't fear mythical creatures and ghosts, and so he ignored the warnings of the others as he decided to continue his travel through the forest even though the evening was already approaching. Almost everyone predicted that he wouldn't return, and until the very last minute, they tried to change his mind. When they watched him sail away, many shook their heads and started prayers for his soul.

The last light of the day was breaking through the trees as the young boatman steered his boat, loaded with wool, onto the swamp in the middle of the forest. Just as he wanted to laugh about the foolish warnings of the other men, he spotted a mysterious golden light floating above the water surface. Having never seen something as whimsical like this before, he curiously let his boat drift closer to the light, which immediately moved away from it.

As he followed the light, he barely noticed that he was steering right towards the bankside by the foot of the mountain, and before he knew it, his boat was drifting into a cave tunnel. The lantern next to the helm was the only source of light, its beam softly gliding over the grey walls. His breath was coming out in mist as he made his way deeper and deeper into the mountain; with every minute that passed, it got colder and shivers were running down his spine. The mysterious light was still hovering in front of the bow, guiding him.

He didn't know for how long he'd been travelling through the tunnel when suddenly, it opened up and he reached a hall so giant that the light of his lantern neither reached its ceiling nor the walls. Letting his boat drift carefully towards the stone bank of the little lake, he climbed onto the land and grabbed his lantern, asking himself if someone had ever been here before. The thought of being the very first person to discover this place truly amazed him.

Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped through the cave, extinguishing the flame in his lantern and making his hair float around his head before it ebbed down as fast as it had risen. The golden light had vanished as well, leaving the boatsman behind in complete darkness, and he regretted that he'd allowed the light to lure him away from his path.

For a few minutes, he stood motionless in the darkness, asking himself what he ought to do now, when a faint white flicker caught his attention. It was light enough to reveal a corridor in the stone wall, and the boatsman, unable to spot his boat in the darkness, thought that it was the best choice to follow it. His steps were echoing from the walls as he staggered through the cave, trying to stick to the pace in which the ghostly phenomenon retreated.

The labyrinth of corridors seemed endless, and the boatsman walked for so long that his legs started to hurt.

Finally, the tunnel ended in a cave maybe half as large as the first one, and the young man's eyes widened in surprise and horror as his gaze fell on the middle of the hall. There, emitting the white light that had guided him here, floating a few inches above the ground, was the ghost of a child. It looked as if it's clothing was wet, and the boy's eyes were sad as he looked at him, not moving at all.

Not knowing what he should do or say, the boatsman simply stood there, his eyes wide while he tried to comprehend what he was seeing right in front of him.

Then, the silence was broken; the boy smiled at him, his left hand reaching out while he said: 'Play with me! I'm so alone...'

Gulping nervously, the boatsman reached out, mirroring the boy's movement, but as his fingertips grazed the pearly white body of the ghost, it vanished, as if he was blown away by a soft breeze. He left darkness behind, and fear rose inside the young man; blindly groping around, he tried to find a wall to help him feel his way out.

But the tunnels were like a maze; intersecting, winding deeply into the mountain, and it took days until he finally reached the cave with the lake in it again. Starved and exhausted, he managed to steer his boat out of the tunnel before he passed out, the current carrying him and his load down the stream, where fishermen found him.

His story about the lonely ghost boy was soon spread in every tavern along the river; the young boatsman even returned and tried to find the ghost again, but it seemed like it was like with many things: If you're searching for them, they won't come to you, but if you stop looking for them, they'll find you."

OoO

When the last tune faded away, the whole pub was silent for some time; it seemed like the tale still had quite some weight in this region, even though it had been indicated that it was well known. Emmeline was rather surprised about the story being part of a folk song; normally, the stories these bands were singing about were funny or retelling the deeds of heroes, but this one… It was tragic, and quite spooky.

But as everyone in the pub started to applaud and cheer, she joined in, giving the men credit for their entertaining way to tell the story. The singer had the ability to create the right mood just with his voice, and Emmeline had been fascinated by this.

Turning away from the band, she came to face Sirius, who offered her a new beer while asking: "And, how did you like it?"

"Unusual," she muttered, not able to find the right words for what she was thinking.

Sirius grinned, assuring her: "It's simply a tale that parents here tell their children to keep them from playing too close to the swamps. In some nasty versions, like the one my mum told me, they also include the twin of the dead boy, saying that he went crazy and used the will-o-the-wisps to lure people into the cave and kill them so his brother has people to play with."

Emmeline grimaced, took a sip from her beer and replied: "Wow, stuff for sweet dreams, huh?"

"Yeah… I hope you won't have any nightmares tonight, Emmeline. Otherwise I would volunteer to comfort you," he winked flirtily, successfully distracting Emmeline from the dark theme of the story and also reminding her that she didn't have a place to stay this night. When she'd walked into the village earlier this evening, she'd only been looking for any place to warm herself up and eat something at after the rain. A look on the clock told her that it was too late to move to the next village today, and she didn't know if the pub had any rooms.

"Does this mean that you have a place where I could sleep tonight?" She smirked back at him, supporting her chin on her hand. Emmeline had no idea where the thought was coming from, but she considered staying in this village a little longer… it looked like a nice place, and Sirius was the best flirt she'd come across in quite some time. A girl sometimes needed a man who complimented her.

"There is a room upstairs, I live in the small flat right next to it."

She could tell that Sirius tried not to sound too suggestive while saying that, but she didn't mind.

"Sounds good," Emmeline nodded, leaning a little bit forward over the bar. Though she hadn't decided yet if she wanted to go as far as sleeping with him, she found that it wouldn't do any harm if she flirted a little bit more with him.

"Great… shall I show it to you now?"

She smirked as Sirius licked his lips; the movement drew her attention for a moment, then she looked up into his grey eyes and replied: "No, I think I'll stay up for a little bit longer."

OoO

Midnight was long gone when the last guests left the pub, bidding Sirius goodbye in a friendly manner. Emmeline was still sitting at the bar, watching him clean the last glasses and wipe the bar. When he was finally done, he grabbed her backpack and carried it upstairs for her, Emmeline following him at his heels. The small room he revealed behind the old oak door was clean and cozy, and Emmeline felt like she could bear to stay at this place a little bit longer.

"Remember the offer I made in case of nightmares," Sirius winked at her as he placed the backpack next to the bed, giving Emmeline time to admire his rear. His grey eyes were gleaming with desire as he looked down at her, and in this moment, Emmeline made her decision.

"Why don't you stay here and prevent them from coming to me in first place?" She suggested, her hands gently touching his chest, feeling his muscles flex under her fingers. He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist while pulling her close to lean down and kiss her, carefully at first, then getting more and more passionate.

Hands searched for bare skin and caressed it, lips collided and pieces of clothing fell onto the floor as the two strangers explored each other.

And Emmeline found that it had been a good choice to stop by in this village, and that staying here for a few more days seemed more than tempting, especially because of the company.